Vidya Balan Opens Up On Being Fat-Shamed.

Vidya Balan is a famous Indian actress and has established a career in Bollywood. She is also the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards, five Screen Awards and was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2014. She is known for portraying strong female protagonists roles and has been acknowledged in the media for pioneering a change in the concept of a Hindi film heroine.

Fat shaming is an issue that all of us have been hearing about quite often now. On Saturday, Neha Dhupia had slammed a fashion publication, that had pointed out her post-pregnancy fat and we saw many B-Town celebs coming up in support of the actress. Now, we have another actress who has something to say to those who ask her to exercise and lose weight.

Recently, during a media interaction, a journalist asked Vidya an absurd question, where he mildly fat-shamed her and put her in a spot. In a bizarre and weird question, the reporter asked Vidya, “You are known for doing women-centric films so do you plan on doing so or are you planning to shed some extra kilos. Are you planning to adopt more glamorous roles in future ?”But Vidya being Vidya, sure knows how to deal with such questions. She put across an important point that surely must have shut him down. Vidya replied, “I am very happy with what I am and the movies that I’m doing. But yes, if the mindset of people like you could change, it would be amazing.”

This is not the first time that Vidya chose to give her piece of mind. She has time and again made points and explained how she believes in being comfortable in her own skin rather than striving for something that everyone else in the industry has been obsessed with. Vidya Balan, in an interview with Filmfare, candidly spoke about her struggles of dealing with body issues, hormonal and fat-shaming problems. Talking about her own life, Vidya shared, “I’ve had hormonal problems all my life. It’s probably because of the judgment I’ve carried around my body. When I was a teenager, people would tell me, ‘You’ve got such a pretty face, why don’t you lose some weight?’ It’s not a nice thing to say to anyone. Be it a child or a grown-up. So, I’d starve myself, I’d go through crazy exercise regimens and lose weight. Then the hormonal issue would settle for a bit before it reared its head again. I guess it was my body’s way of revolting because in wanting it to be what it was not, I was constantly rejecting it.”

Vidya Balan further added that to love herself is her ultimate mantra. She retorted, “The process of getting to like yourself the way you are is a painful one. Therefore, today I’m balanced in my approach. No killing myself with exercise. No food deprivation. Only kindness and compassion towards myself.”